Trucker Hats with Transfers

[ericheartsu]

We've been doing alot of these lately. But for some reason we are having issues where our edges are not peeling off smoothly.

Are there any tricks to getting even pressure across a curved surface?

We've resulted in taping down the edges of our transfers, which slows the process down very much.

[royster13]

I know you probably want to print your own.....But I have been using FM Expressions for years because I never get my hands dirty.....Never any issues with adhesion....

[ericheartsu]

I know you probably want to print your own.....But I have been using FM Expressions for years because I never get my hands dirty.....Never any issues with adhesion....

that's the thing though, once they are taped down, there is no problem!

[Frog]

Sounds like they are creeping, and blurring the edges a bit. Either as the platen comes down, or shrinking during the process.
Probably as the platen is closed.
It appears the tape is preventing this. I frequently tape.
How about a pic?

[kingscreen]

We use a very light mist of spray tack on the transfer. 
Can't see it once it's pressed, and it holds the transfer perfectly in place while pressing.

[Frog]

We use a very light mist of spray tack on the transfer. 
Can't see it once it's pressed, and it holds the transfer perfectly in place while pressing.

A specialized adhesive, or standard platen stickum?
You mist right over the plastisol?

[kingscreen]

We use a very light mist of spray tack on the transfer. 
Can't see it once it's pressed, and it holds the transfer perfectly in place while pressing.

A specialized adhesive, or standard platen stickum?
You mist right over the plastisol?

CCI Top Bond MIST. A very delicate spritz right over the plastisol.
We've done thousands like that and never had an issue.

[ericheartsu]

I'll give that a shot and see what's going on. Anything else we've done transfers on, we haven't had this issue with. Only trucker caps!

[ebscreen]

We've found that being generous with the size of the paper in relation to the image helps with this.
Helps stop the edges from flipping up when you release the pressure.

[Frog]

I'll give that a shot and see what's going on. Anything else we've done transfers on, we haven't had this issue with. Only trucker caps!

Wonder if the "pillow cush" or the bounce of the trucker hat foam is adding to your issues.

[ericheartsu]

We've found that being generous with the size of the paper in relation to the image helps with this.
Helps stop the edges from flipping up when you release the pressure.

This has passed my mind as well. I'm wondering if we need to allow for extra room around the transfer.

[mimosatexas]

I've only had issues with edges peeling when I don't use enough pressure (light very slightly too little), and once when I tried a different powder type that was a much finer grain and when the ink slightly gained when pressing the adhesive powder didnt melt and gain the same amount which caused basically like a very thin halo around the image that wasnt adhering.  Probably hard to explain, but I have done 10s of thousands of transfers now, 95% of them printed in house, and those are the only times ive had issues with edge adhesion that I can think of

edit: if these are foam, you have a lot of leeway on the pressure as well without affecting the opacity etc.  If its a knit/twill front your pressure has to be dialed in much more closely to prevent the texture of the hat come though your design.

[ZooCity]

We get this sometimes with plasti transfers on truckers when pushing the image width or height.  Keep the image well within the platen bounds, use a weighted teflon strip to hold down the transfer without taping.  A final trick, if your press has the stahl's style lever to clamp the cap down, is to release that lever after the pressure comes down.  If it doesn't consider backing off the tension on whatever style you have.  The G. knight ones have a basic adjustment for this.

The issue is the concave/convex platens, or least that's how I perceive it.  Pressure is hard to keep even and the like frog says the cap front panel is squishy.

[Maff]

There are a lot of really great tips here!
The only thing I can add is we occasionally fix a thin towel or something like that onto the base platen. Then put the hat on and it seems to help fill out the hat more to give it more even pressure.
We've also had better results with fine details using the very fine adhesive powder instead of the regular powder.